S=:LEVELANd ~ ~

.RESTORING YOUR OWN BAC The guy from the tree company thoughi he could save the paper" . birch in my front yard.: The tree was suffering from two pests-the bronze birch borer and the leaf miner. But a regimen of pesticide injections and sprays could control the problems; he said. It wouid be a sh~e to lose such a decorati-ye tree.

The paper birch, with its lacy Y/hite bark, had been plapted years ago by a previo\ls owner who no doubt had noble

, ·-landscaping intentions. But.it was a cool-weather

· tree 9ut of its natural Iange: Ohio's hot ~':1nimers .placed it under .

· too.much stress, made it .. too susceptible to pests. It was doomed to die an early death unless I

· agreed,to pay for perpetual chemical fixes . .-

. Continued on p. 4

HOME AT ECOCITY

A plug for .us It's always nice to .be praised. But we were· especially delighted by a review in the March-April 1995 issue ofth" Utne Reader, the national magazine covering alternative inedia and emerging trends. The review was by Utne ·editor Jay Walljasper, a.nd this is what he said: . . .

Alas,. poor Cle\!,eland. It's been a full 25 years 'since that infamous day whe~ the Cuyahoga .Riv.er caught fl1~ . : .yet . the city tias.never shaken its Image as America's nUf\1ber one urban eeo-disaster area. But a close look ' at EcoCity Cleveld!ld-:-arguablY the bl?st local environmen,tal publication in America-might change a fe,w minds. . . -

This attractive. monthly newsletter j s :l?rimming~ith ne~s items, br.ig~t . ideas,'anCl sweeping vi$ions about the: Greening of Cleveland. Frequently taking a bior.egiomil p.erspect"ive, editor David Beach celebrates the area's natunil assets, inclu,ding forests, . .river valleys, rich :farmland,

. and bilck-from-the-brink;.of-death Lake Erie. Urban concerris like sustainable transportation, suburban

. sprawl, workplace toxics, " environmental j"usti"ce." and ," neighborhood revitalizatiori

" also get in-depth treatment. Besides comprehensive listings of local meetings, "events; and reso~rce~,

EcoCity Cleveland offers" sharp analysis on issues that affe"ct more than just " n"orthem Ohio-global. warming and urban disinvestment, for examp1e:---as well as reports o"n.su"ccess stories from ai:ound"the world th~t cou"ld be applied to al1Y,North American -city. All this gives p~bple living outside t~e 91lyahoga VaHey watershed a reason to subsc~ibe-not to mention the fact that EcoClty Cleveland "deserves to be widely imitated in other towns

"and cities across the land, especially the one you call-home. " . . " "

As we end pur second year. of publication, I believe that we h.ave established F;coCity Cleveland as a. uniqu·e resource for Northeast Ohio, The support of readers likeyou has made this possible. ln the coming year,I hopothat you

. will keep on supporting us- by renewing your subscription, by encouraging your friends to .subscribe, and by sending in your ideas and ·stories.

·New faces · We recently said a n;luCt~nt goodbye to Bob ·St~ib, one ofthe found~g . members of our Board o( Trustees: Bob has ~ssumed expanded .. responsibilities as actirig director of the·Cleveland Public Health Department. We wish him welrandthank him for helping to get EcoCity Cleveland off the ground. . .

We are pleased to anrioUnce the OJection offu,o new board m·embers, Stu· Greenberg·, executive director of Environmental Health Watch, and Carl Wirtz, a manager of audit and ·consulting ·at the accounting.fmn of Hausser + Taylor. Baih will provide .valiJable guidance. in the ·coming year as we continue to deveiop-""as an organization" -"" .

Thank you . . . We recently received a grani from the Benjamin S. Gerson Family Foundation for the purchase of computerized inapping (geographic . infonnation system) software. Thistool will heliius improve the guality of

maps in EcoCity Cleve!f.md, as well as strengthen our capacity to assisi citizen planning efforts i~ the region,

- David Beach Editor

Mission Ec~clty Cleveland isationpro~t, tax-exe,:,pt, .

· educatio~al orgaJIization. Through tile piJbliqation ofthe £edCily ClevelimdJourndl and ·othe{progtams, it wil.1

, s.timnli.te eeologiealthiokiog aboutlhe .Northeast Ohio region (Cuy,allOga Bioregioo), nurture ,in EooCity

NetWork among Jocal groups working on urban and environmental isshes_>: anA,prornote" stist~inabl~ ,wa~s'to

meet basie human needs for food, shelt~r, . pfod~ctive work an~ ,stab~e "coJ1~ri1Unities.'

Board ,()f Trustees Dayid' Beach!_Dire~tof~ Eco'CityCleveland Stuart Greenberg, E""ironment~f.HeallhWatc~ ~hirStar, Ce~ter jor Neighborhgod 1)evelopment, CSU ChO.s.Trepal,The EarthD~y Coalition Carl \'{irtzl HdUSs~r-.t7aylor :

Advisory Boar.d -Deb{)J.'ahAlex -Saunders. Mino,:ityEnVirD~menta/Ass()c. Thomas ·Bier, diu HOUSing PolleX Reseafch Program

· fa,:,.es Bissell, Cleveland Museum nf Nrifi,ral History Di~e Came:ron, Na!ural ResQurces Dejense Council An4e Chaka~ Union ojConc(!rned Scientists" Edith Ch",,~. Ohi~. CoaStal Resource Mgt. liroject Lee DeAngeli!:., EnvirDwnenta1 Care"ers"'Organfzation John Debo, Cuyahogq Valley National Recreation ilrea

" Lois-Epstein, Environmental pefense Fund , ' 'Lynne Hanoali; Northeast Ohio Greens Soren Hansen, Interc§raphic En"gine~rjng Services Kirri·HiIl, Sierra Clu~ . Robert Jaquay, {;uyah'oga Cou~ty fl~nning 'Commission David Knapp, Unt'ted Lahor Agency . 'Susan Lacy, Chur"hes ilciing Together jorChange and Hope (CilTCm " . , · Craig Limpaeli, Wildlife biologist. Elaine MarSh, Ftie,,,ls 'oj the. CrookedRiver Mary O'Shea, TM Food Co-op NOTJllan.Robbins, CWRU Prbgramjorthe EnVironment

· Jerome Walcott; Commission dn Catholic Community, Action ..

Roberta .. Wendel, Friends'ojthe.Black River

Organizations listed for identification only. 'Articles-in EcoCity Cleveland do not necessarily reflect the views of

board membCrs, ,a1tltOlJgh there's a good chanet; they Qo.

• .;

,:Th~ Eco~ity Ciev;'alJd Journal is published monthly at "28_41 Scarborough Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44 U 8, Cuyahoga Bjo~gion> telephonelfax"(216) 932¥3007; Unless otherwjse hoted, all articles imifpb'otographs-aie by David Beach. Submissions from othe:(s are welcOme, but p1E~ase call 'first. We cannot be responsible -f~r unsolicited materials. 'Copy

;deadline is the 15th of each month. Readers Qre:enqouraged to use the -infotmationjn:E~oCily

Cleveland. Just call for pe~ission_to reprint ardcles. After_, . 'you1re finished with your "copy ofthe- newsl~tter. pass it on tei

" friends or recycle it If you are a regular reader, please subscribe. " . " ... , .,. ,, '

Supported by grantS-from the. George Qund and Nord Family foundations, subscriptions and indiYldual donations. c-

_ ' Printed'at· Orange,Blossom Press in Cleveland on 100% < post-consumer waste (:cycled paper using so~~based inks.

.'© 19~5 EcoGity Cleveland

. ~coCiTY ClEVElANd 0 March 1995

OUR PLACE ON THE PLANET

Spra""l ·topsregional· priorities In a recent preliminary ranking, participants, of the Regional Enyironinental Priorities Project

.(REPP) selected [I'Ve ~nvironmental issues-outmigration from the urban core, qUi;llity of surface water, quaiity of Qutdbor air, quality' of the urban environment, and use of r~so-ur.ces/energy-as high pri~rities in . Northeast Ohio. Outmigration topped the list because urban sprawl contributes to numerous. environmental and social problem~.

During the past year the REPP has involved' c itizens and techpical experts t~ evaluate the threats of various environme'ntal problems to human heaith, ecosystems and , quality · of life in Cuyah'oga. Lake, Lorain and, Summit c01,lQties. The project is coori:Jinated by. the Center for"the Environment at Case Western Reserve Univer$ity.

A number of other key issues did "not . receive a high priority ranki.ng in part because many members of fhe REP? Public ' .

. Committee viewed the scientific evidence as inconclusive. These issues included global problems, such as cI.ima~e change frorri greenhouse gasses and stratospheric ozone ' loss; aQ.Q the problem of persisteni toxic ' substances in the foo9- chain.

At the ranking meeting on Marcb 16, representa'tives of environmental and citizen organizations argued in vain for"to?,ics in the foo'd chain to be made a high priority, They

: criticized the REPP's technical aCivisory c'ommittees for narrowlY'interpreting the issue.

. of human food contamination. For example, the Human ~ealth techoical committee. focused on the relatively minor problem of spoiledJood (for which local health

.'. departments" ha~e ready data) and not on the .f&r more worrisome problem of bioaccumulative toxi~ substances, which can mimIc hUllJan hormones an~ disrupt , reprqduction and develop~ent~· As a result, a problem that could .undermine the reproductive viability o( humans and other · species was ranked a medium priority ...

The REPP proce~s was limited in other ways, as well. Although it was supposed to be based on the best scienc~, lack of tim·e and resources' meant it was based on the 'information readily available to the volunteers who h.appe~ed to be involved. Someti!TIes the ' resulting reports were complete and' well developed, but . ~ometimes they were not.

In addition, time pressures shortened the period of debate and public outreach; Membe.rs oJ the yoting Public Committee had tess than two weeks to digest dozens of tec~ical reports, solicit input, and debate the priorities. rhe preliminary ra,nkings we!e

ECdCiT)' ClevElANd 0 March 1995 .

. accomplished in one meeting. priorities. Ulti~at~ly,"the pu;Pose of the . REPP is to.change ~ublic policy so that .

resources are devoted to the most important . ~n~iro~mental proble.ms:

Environmental and community ac.tivists were also frustrated that "management" issljes were e~c1uded. from the rankings. In their View, environmental problems· like water pollution or energy consl,Imption are the result of more fundamental"problems of politics, economics and the failure of regulation. Thus,

· ~he real priorities should ·address political campaign, financing, an economic system that does not account fOl'the full costs.of · envii"onm((ntal degradat.ion, or a regulatory system that puts the burden of proof of harm on. the v.ictims· rather than tbe polluters. .

Robbins acknowledges that the REPP has had limitations. But he believes that it has incorporated the "be~tJudgment of fair­minded people." ·He stresses that 'economic and"political constraints force us to set . p.riorities every day, so there might as well be a rational process for doing" it. He also emphasizes that the priorities an~ only relative rankings. !he fact that an issue ranks .Iow does not mean it is unimp·o.rl:ant.

According to REPP director: NonnalJ Robbins; such.management issues will be discussed in the next phase of the process: as teams develop strategies to address the top

.. Still, the process ~f picking priorities has prompted much soul-searching with in ·the· local environmental movement . As one

activist said,. "I can't 'c~ose ~y poison." 0

Pick your poison? ... ~."' "' .. "' ::.' .•.....

Issue area

Outmigraton from the yrban core • ......... + ••••• • •••••• , ............ h •

Quality of outdoor aJr '

Quality of surface water

'pualily of urban environment

Use of natural resources/energy .

Global climate change'

·Hazardous substances in households/schools ... .. ... .......................... .. .. .. ......... ;-,.

H.uman (ood cont"minal,ion Quality of indqor air

Quality 6f natural areas

,Stratospheric ozone loss

Acid rain

Ec~logi,cal balanc~

Quality cif ground water

.. , ......... , .. .

. , .. .... . ...... .. .... ; .. : ..... .

Radiation exposure from human sources

. Solid waste disposal

Preliminary ranking

High

High

High

High

High

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Medium

Low

Low

Low

Low .. .. ' ...... ........ ... .... \ ............. . Low

These are the 16 issues being considered by the Regiooal Environmental Priorities Project for Northeast Ohio. Preliminary' tankings are incJ~ded.

',How wouldyoll rar:-k these issues in ·tenus ofth~ir impacts on hu~ health, ecosystems and quality of life? What are your environmental priorities for the region? Send your comments to· EcoCi,ty "Cleveland, and we will 'forward them to priorities project participants bef~re the final ~king meeting in May.. , . "

For more infonnatjon'about the project,.oall th'e eWRU Center for the Eijvironment at 368-· 2988 or theGrassroots Environmental Caucus at 961-4646, .

3

I ~ ,

i ."

RESTORATION

Blank,slate: Suburbau yards, like lliis one ·in Avon, be bealed witb n'alive plants.

Ohio's nativ:e plan~s Early settlers of Ohio viere greeted b~ expansive forests. vietlands and prairies. Adapting tbiswilderness to farmland for~vercbangedtbe fa~e ofObio's landscape. Almost every lhature Ireehad beencutby 190.0; forbsts wbich fo",\edy covered 95% Qftheslaten~w cover only 25% Thousands of acres of wetlands were drained and, along with the prairies, converted to agricultural use. Presently, only renmanls , remain of Ohio's original la~dsbal>e 10 remind us of our nalural her,it~ge; ~ "~,'

Of8hi0'§ e~tiOlated2,700 vas~ularplantspecies, 1,80.0 .' are considered native or naturally occurring in the state prior to Europeari ,settlemetlt.The other 90o.pl(mt species »ave . ' been moStlyihtroduced tbrough agriculture and are so thorougblyestablishedthat itis often hard to separ~t" them from the natives. "

Native plant species are as much a part of our Datura I heritage as the land and";ls physical features. Besides,their obVIOUS beauty a~daesthetic value, nativ~, plantsrnake up thefrarnework and suppqrt mechanism upon which tho'usands of other aninial and insect species have 'evolved. ,They repre,sent,a great, largel¥ untapped, resource.forth~ horticultural and landscape piofessions, and tjte home .. .. g,ardener.

4

-Brian Parsons Holden Arbo~etum

Restor."ng '. plants and animals might refill ' _ ;' the VOids we have created-. To

From p . I '. reverse" this prooess--"':""to .In the end, I decided t9 ' "reconnect as many plant and

accept natu,re's .verdict. Hold the anima(species as we can to rebuild , "guy from the tree company to cut intefligen't suburban the birch down. I 'plan to replace it ecosystems-requires a new kind with a hardier, tree that's adapted to ' bf garden, new techniques of local c·onditions. ' gardening. ·a~d, · I emp'hasize, a ne~ ..

It's the kind of d"ecision faced by -kind of gardener. u

everyone who is the steward.ofa In "ihis spirit, here are a few . piece of lan~. How far do you go te basic steps we c~n take t.o resto're

impose yeur own will and' our yards and the larger ec~systems , landscape prejudices on your yard? efNertheast Ohie: De yeu fellow the "baref.oet grass" • Stop urban sprawl. Fi~st, we

, admonitiens .of the lawn care ' must Sjlve as much unspoiled companies', or de , you 'allow natural natural area and rural land as processes te' ru'n t~eir ceurse? possible'. This, means the

In recent years, 'it seems more municipalities and counties in .our and more, peeple are chaosihg te ' regien need to work together te, err en 'the 'side 'ef nah.lCe. Some 'are slew'the unnecessary, uncontrolled _

. cencerned abeut the 'health dangers sprawl of develepment over the .of pesticides used te poison nature COUhtryside., into. submissien: Others want to • Cluster development. Ifnew turn th'eir arti'ficial,. meneculture 'land must be developed, at least do , . lawn into a more diverse, natural it sensitively. For example, new' habitat. They realize thatt while ' " _ hemes or businesses can be , urban or suburban land is usually tlustered so only a small portion of so distur~eq that it must be a site has te b~ disturbed. "n'Hinaged" in 90m-e way, the ' • Get rid of lawns. In areas that man!lgement doesn't have to ,be ar~ alr~ady developed, reduce the toxic. And the resulting yard can area covered by lawns- those contribute in thallY ways te the water-hungry, high-maintenance, , larget ecesystem .of the region. chemical-intensive, unsustainable,

"It starts off with ,homeowners , monotoneus stands of~onnative ' realizing that they are just rlants. temporary custodians of this ,iAnything is better than a_lawn,"

' habitat"and they can: help- re~~ere it says Parsons;whe teaches a class , ~ or they can blindly follow the ' at the Arboretum on designing a

landscape style ofthe guy down natural landscape. "Start from that , ' the street with a lawn and a few premise, then work your way back.

' shrubs," says Brian Parsens~ The: goal i$ te have a lawn no natural' areas c.oerdinator at the ,Iarger.than yeu care te mew by Holden Arb.oretum in Kirtland. ,~ ,hand with a traditional push , "If you look at each blade of mewer/I

'grass in your yard as an ,i,ntroauced • Create 'diversity. In his, back plant species that has' displaced a" . yard, Parsons perfenned'an

, native species, then yeu can begin experiment" a few years ag\>o He to sense the magnitude .of change simply stopped mewing a large

', we' have made in the name of swath of grass,ari,d observed what, 'progre·s~.1tI he 'adds. came up. Some efthe plants ,were . Dardening writer Sara Stein noxi.ous weeds; which he pulled by cemments' in her book, Noah's hand. But many wildfl.ower species ' Garden: "Suburban development also appeared. He planted some , has wrought habitat destruction on additional wildflewers, and by the a grand scale, As these'tracts secend year he had a b~a.utiful expand, ,they -incr~asingly squeeze meadow, the remaining natura~ It's also possible te add -ecosyste~s, fragmen~ th'em, • 'ce~plexity ,to the "vertical , sever corridors by which , structure" .of your yard- the

EcoCiTy CIEvE~Nd 0 March 1995

I "layers of ground cover-, unde;story ·plants ...... geneS' have ~volved in response to the . and canopy trees. By incre~si.ng th~ diversity ~ specific climatic and ecological requireI11ents". of species and structu-re; you also create' of the region. Local nurseries don't sell such more h,abitats and food sources for »-i1dlife. -native ptants, leaving most gardeners to depend on

". Plant native species. To complete the nurseries elsewhere"in the eastern United States · restoration process, w~ must assemble as many tl"tat sell seed or propagated natives. pieces of the region's original ecosys.tem as Ultimately, the goal should be to create an

· ·possible. "Our yards are within range of several authentic, regional; landscape aesthetic, just 'as · thousand plafjt spedes~" Parsons notes.. "Rip out a some parts of the country have regional cuisines

little vinca and dare to plant something different. or styles o'farchitecture, Parsons says. Live on the edge." "Right now, we have no landscape style of our

The cooler north and east sides of a house can own, very little appreciation of the native flora," become woodland meadows. The south and west he says. '''Everyone's got this exotic .landscape. exposures can feature. prairie species. You can 'There's n6 sense of place." trnd examples to follow in p'ar~s throughout tl~~ _ "We've inherited a rich natural heritage. I don1: region. " want my kids to inherit an imitation, II he adds.

· One problem for the casual .gardener is finding "We need to consider ourselves as the temp.orary sources 0'£ native plants. Restoration purists scoff' custodians of land which is home to hundreds of at-all-purpose~ wildflower seed mi,xes (a IImeadow nativ~ plant a~d animal species ... Our owri ' liv~s ' in a cal1") sold by national retailers, They say it's ' are brief,' but the consequences of our'actions can important to 'collect seeds of native plan~s . far out live us. A'fier we move on, our plants , growing within 100 miles or so. Only then stay put, "and they ca~ rerria~ for more than ' can you be reasonably sure that the plants' 100 years." 0 . '

Resources eo ... Clean-Land, Ohio (urban forestry an~

beautification), 1836 Euclid Ave., Suite 80"0,: Cleveland, OH 441 15, (696-2122). . ~. Cleveland Botanical Garden (redefining its

mission to include more work with urb,!n-green spaces), i 1030 East Blvd., Cleveland, Oli 44106, (721-1600). .'

,eo ... Clevela~d Museum of,Natural History (botanical surveys and research on rare plants 'in ' the region; e,xtensive, herbarium colfection) > I

. WadeOval, Cleveland', OH 44106, (231-4600). . ' ~ ... Greatcf'Cleveland 'Ecology Assoc!ation (leaf humus l'romrecycled yard waste), 323 Lakeside Ave. West,. Cleveland, OH 44113, (687-1266).

~a,; Holden Arbor~tum (the nation's l~rgest arboretum), 9500 S'perry Rd., Kirtland, OH 44094, (946-4~PO). ., .

"'Nati~nal Institute'for Urban Wildlife, 10921· Tr.otting Way, Columbia, MD 21044,(301/596-331~ . . '

... National Wildlife Federation Backyard ' Wildlife Habitat Program, 1400' 16th St. NW,. Washington, DC 20036.

~I.; Native PfantSociefy of Northeastern Ohio; 265 I Kerwick Rd., University. Heights,OH 4<f11.8, (321-3702). ~ New Engiand Wildfl9wer S~ciety (provides

a listofnurseries'speciaJizing in native plants), Garden in the Woods, Hemenway Rd., ·Framingham, MA 0170 I,J508/877,9348).

~ ... ·Ohio Division: of Wildlife (information on wildlife management on private land):·(216/644- ' 2293) ..

~ .. Society for Ecological Restoration (professional society dedicated to the ,science and art·of ecological restoration), 1207 Seminole Highway, MadIson, WI 53711, (608/.262-9547).

. Additional reading , ... Th~ BackYard Naturalist by' Craig Tufts,

Nationai Wildlife Federation, 1988. eo .. The Chemical-Free; Lawn by War~en

Schultz, RodalePress, 1989. eo .. Environmental Restoration: Science and

Strategiesfo~ Restoring the Earth ;edit~d by jOhn'], . Berger, IslanpPre~s, 1990 ..

~ .. Full Circle: Restoring Youi' Habitat to Wilderness by Bayliss Prater and Kathleen McNeal, LasfResort Press (2359 Miller Rd., Willard, OH44890), 1993.

~ .. The Na/~rallfa6itat Garden by Ken Druse, Clarkson Potter Publishers; 1994.

eo ... Noah's Garden: Res/oring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards by Sara Stein, Houghton .Mifflin Co.,. 1993. ~ Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by ,

Michael Pollan, DeH Publishing, 19.91: ~ ... Wildlife Reserves and Corridors in (~e

Urban Environment by Lowell Adams and Louise Dove, National Institute for Urban Wildlife. 1989.

Plant sales ~ ... Holden Arboretum plant sale, a g'ood source

of hard-to-find p.atiyc plants arid exhibits.ori protecting pl~nts from deer, aurae.ting birds and

.·butterflies, and transpianting :woody plants. April 29-30 at the Arboretum, 9500 Sperry Road in

~ Ohio State University Cooperative Extension Service (g~rdening tips). 3200 W.: 65th St" Cleveland, .OH 44102, (631-1890).

. Kirtland. Ca"1I 946-4400 for more informa-tion.

•

' ~ . '. County Soil ~nd' Water Conservation Districts' in the region also sponsor spring .

. . ' , .... pla~t sa.le~ featuring tree~ al1:d ground covers.

EcoCiry CLEVElANd 0 March ·1995

Native herba,c:eous perennials for the home landsc:ape Prairi,e/rneadow species Nodding Wild Onion Marsh Milkweed ' Sullivant's Milkweed Butterfly,Weed

"New England Aster White Wild Indigo Camass Lily Shooting Star Rattlesnake Master .Queen of .the Prairie Rough Blazing-Star

,Dense Blazing-Star Scaly Blaz[ng~Star Canada<Uly Oswego Tea . Wild Bergamot : Foxglove' Gray-Headed Coneflower BlacR-Eyed Susan ' Thin-leaved Coneflower Golden Ragwort Royal Catchfly Rosinweeds Goldenrods

, Purple' Meadow·Rue Culver's Root Big Bluestem Canada Wild Rye Switch Gras's t,.ittle Blu,estem Indian Gr.ass : •.

Woodland species DolI's Eyes Rue Anemone Wild' Columbine Jack-in~the~Pulpit Wild Ginger -Marsh Marigolds Green and Gqld _ Bu'gbane Fairy B~lIs ' Wintergreen Wild Geranium Sha'rp-Iobed Hepatica Dwarf Crested Iris False Rue'Anemone

:Twin Flower , Virginia Bluebells Partridge-Berry . Miterw'ort Wood Phlox Creeping Phlox Solom,on's-Seal Wild Stonecrop SoJomC!~'s-Plume Wood POppy FoafD Flower ' Canada Violet Barren Strawberry Mai~enhair Fern Lady Fern, Marginal Shield Fern Christmas Fern New York Fern

Source: Holden Arborelum

5

ORGANIC LANDSCAPING

Lawn· of the future Som.etimes it's not ea~y to get rid'o/yaur

· lawn. When J. wr~fe IMs slory back in J 990, 'Shaker Heights re~id.enl Joe Gyurgyik ~vas embroiled in controv.ersy b~cQuse he had I~rned his front yard into a wildflower meadow. But JIm p/eased.lq report a happy ending.

"The con travers/has di.ed down, 1/

Gyurgyik says. "The city made 'us p1a.nl "o row o/viburnunl' and rhododendrons'to screen the view from the street, but otherwise they've left liS alone. I guess the neighbors have gotten used to it ... Atfirst th~re was a 90ncern that my yard was going to (urn into-a field of weeds. But · there are' no weeds, jlfst flowers. "

With five cHildren to wonyabout, Gyurgyik wants" a landscape thaI requites 'no IOxicpe.sticides to maintain. His

· exafflple shOlilq encourage other .. homeowners who want to get r.id of their'

· high~maintenance grass: Dare (0 cha"nge! Even in cGmmu.nities w~/h strict landseape and a~chitecfural 5Ia.ndards, it's possi/{le for a·new landscape aesthetic to emerge:

. - -Df1~1d Beach-.. Artists talk about developing new aesthetics. On Winthrop Road in Shaker Heights, Joe .Gyurgyik is demonstrating a new aesthetic' for lawns,

'Up and ~own the stre:et are manicured expanses of green ' grass. In .from of~is stately.Tudor home, howeVer, is a knee­high (soon to be waist-high) p.rofusion of wildflowers- 50 var ieties, pl"anted not just

6

, .

i'n a rew 'is~ l ~ted ~arden b~d~ .but -sown' over. most of the front Y'.lrd . .

. Gyurgyik, a·professionallandscaper. thought his gently sloping front yard would be the ideal place for .a natural landscape. He wanted the wildflowers for thei r beauty and

complaineq to City Hall that Gyurgyik's .. yard didn't conform to· Shaker Heights · standards. . .

.The citY authorities (ever anxious to preserve the. housing values that" help Shaker ~emain a stable, integrated

comn:lUnityl. told him to becaus~ they are sel f­'sustaining. Un~ike the '''perfect l a~n," the wildflowers don't ,need mowing or ·watering. They. don't r~qu ire continual 'chemical fixes of ft:rt.ilizers,

He thought h is gently sloping front . .

get out his mower. He" objected. They sent out a horticu l turis~, ~!1o veri fled that the weeds . ",ere flowers~ They lold . him, okay, just.confine the fl owers tOo some

yard would be the' ideal place for a

. herbicides and

. natural landscape. . He wanted the

nice, li ttle beds. He asked to 'see th.eir landscaping code .. They didn'i have one, so over the winter the Shaker

. insecticides--chemicals which can poison beneficial insects and wildlife and pollute &ro.undwa~er, strea{l1s and lakes. And t hey don't create yard .wastes

wildflowers for their beauty and because

theyare self­sustaining.

Heights B·oard of Zoning Appeals · pr?duced 'a resolution to clari fy "appropriate

that fi ll up landfi lls . They simply turn ' . brown and lie down in the. fal l and then regenerate in the sprtng.

In addition, th~ fl owers attract wi l d~ife.

There are -Shasta daisies for th e . so~gbirds,

fub'; lar foigloye blossoms for the . humming bi rds, poppies for the-butterflies.

"In the morning there are a hundred songbirds," Gyurgyik say's. "H's an oasis of nature. "

But several of his ne ighbors don't appreciate his oasis. They 'see an unmown fie ld of weeds-an eyesore. Last year, they

I ~nds~aping." . . The resolution says the B.oar~ '.'does . ~ot

wish to stifle creat ivity in the design of Jandsc~pe installations but does wish to establ ish an appropriate contextual standard .. . the community' context' is not char~cte·rize~ by harsh contrasts in

. landscape treatments between lots but ' rather is 'most often a fl owing mix of green with splashes of seasonal color and tall . plantings .providing visual interest..."

it goes on to restric~ "naturalized" landscapes (those consisting of a mass of

EcoCily ClEVElANd 0 March 1995

• . .

plantings·wit.h a random ~ppearanc~) to"c.> ~ore . than 50% ofthe unpaved, area of the front Yard. It al$'o requires a non-naturalized buffer zone aroul1d the perin:teter of the "yard ..

In response, Gy'urgyik planted a row of viburnum shrubs along the sidewalk. They will grow' seven feet high' arid screeI'! out the yard.

"I had t'? make some sqrt of compromise," he says. "For a while I thought they'd bulldoze the' yard.~t -

He finds it ironic that the city i"s piCking on him a,nd his wildflowers while proclaiming itseir to be a nuclear-free zone. In a letter to The Plain Dealer he wrote, "y,'hile the mayor ,and city council pay lip service. to the future dangers of nuclear energy, they ignore problems that al~ea~y exist in our ba~k yards. Nothin'g is being -done to s"tap' the indiscriminate sprayfug of . pestici~es' arid herbicides ont'? our lawns. In fact, quite the opposit~ is true-it is a~tively . .

·' enc.ouraged to promote an artificiallook ·of green and health: A'II the while, these toxi~ chemicals (many of which are known to cause . cance~) are-seeping into OUF underground water · tables. The immediate impac~ of these spr·ayings · has been widefy reported: mass songbird kills and disruption of small-animal habitats. The long-tenn significance is much .more difficult to·

· determine: One thing is certain·: our children and .- . future generations will have to pay the. consequences for our chemical irresponsibilit~es. '(

· ~ Throughout the course of the controversy, Gyurgyik has been cheered by ,the public suppon he has received. Thanks to media coverage, he's gotten calls and letters from as far away .as Maine.and Oregon. Many of his neighborshave stopped by to say that, while they might not want a wildflower lawn for themselves, they liked his. Ifnol for the widespread support; he believes the 'city would ' ·have. tried to crack down harder on him.

At first he was worried that the potori"ety would h~rt his I.andscaping business. But he says it's helped (except in the case of one woman w~o said, "If you can't cut your own . lawn, how can you cut mine?"). While most of his customers still want a perfect hiwn, he finds

· them growing mo~e recepti'Ve to organic maintenance methods.- .

Aesthetics Change. In the future~ . it's possible that we will have a very different ideal. for the desirable la!1dscape. We might start listening more to the ·hummi"ngbirds and butterflies and I.ess to the advertisements of the chemical companies. We might-Ie·ar'"! how to value

. nature's randomness and diverSity in our own front yards.

Perhaps someday the yard with the weed-free expanse of artificially green gra~s will be th·e eyesore on a street of riotous wildflowers. 0

EeoCiTy ClEVElANd 0 March ' 1995

TilE t.A'WN CilEl'IICALS . SEEM "It> HAvE. C:.IVEN JlIAT SAlE. uNt~OIlM ~ I.OOK .

TO OUR OQG.. .

, di~ ~~;

---Lawn care companies going organic I!y Laurel Hopwood

. . [ receive numerous ihqui.ries regarding WhO"5 Who in organic lawn care. [thought that surveying the Cleveland area lawn car~. companie"s to learn Who offers an organic program wou~d be" a tedious task. I found it enlightening~ however, to hear -how consumer demand is moving the market towards greater ecological viability:

. At least two Cleveland-area.companies, Grassroots and Bauer, and one in the Akron area, Ecosource, .are dedicated to using organic programs (where "organic" is 'defined as being derived from a living orgahism). Bauer infrequently spot"treats gI1\Ss with a synthetic pesticide as a last

. resort. But the companies recognize the need to replenish the soil with materials that close the organie Ipop, such ~ poultry . m~llre .. Synthetic fertilizers and pes~ici4e~, . in contrast, are Qfien derived from petroleuin~ which depletes nonrenewable resources and ~an contrib_ut~ to giobal warming.

Such companies are also.sClf-taught: . -They have discovered that ~niversity-based plant research on l.andscaping and . agriculture is largely tunded by chemical companies. Bauer is even experimenting · with a new: corn-based organic weedkiller. ,

,About 25 other Jawn care companies . recently haye added an organic' option, ·

using fertilizer that c·omes from chicken by.products or sewage sludge. MQst of these ·companies·added the organic alternative' because, as one said, "More customers are'

. asking for it, esp~ciany familfes wIth young ' ' children."

Some: companies admitteq that they were offering organic because "it'~ safer" and they

,feltth.t the applicators health was being · affected by pesticide e~posure. In my infonn.al survey I also found thaLthe companies ,who were not committed .to organics tended to have less knowledge of propersoil pH and the role 6f50il microorganisms.

We each -have our own attitude about ~ ·Iawn care. Personally, I enjoy the array of colors from the flowers that grow from . . weeds. people who chose the organic ro~te· can apply f~rtiliier themselves or pay . someone else to do it. Or you can just ' mow-preferably with a rp.':lnual lawnmower-and leave the grass clippings so that the nutrients are returned to the soil: ~ 'Either way, you' ll have a'health'ier Jawn.

Hopwood chairs the f{u~an Health and 'he '. 'EII~iron",ent committee· of the Northeast Ohio Sierra Cluh. One of the commillee's recenL projects is to promote an ;rdifJance In Cleveland . Heights which woitld prohibit pesticide use on grounds oj citY bUildings, public./ibrpries, Rubiie schools and registered day carejaci/ilies. For , !1U?re information; call 37J·9779.

. ~

I

RESTORATION

Putting ,bacl<the pieces: Restoring ecosystem~ in Ohio In late winter •. befor~ the spring greening of the woods, Karl Smith restoration process is to plant seeds of woodland plants that gets the urge to light fires. He assembles his ~urn team, and they botanical resear_ch indicates w,ere once part of the oak-hickory "

. head out into the Cleveland Metroparks.Brecksville Reserv~tion -ecosystem. The. goal is to rea!?seinble the native plant commuDity. anne.d with drip torches--:-large cans fitted with "flaming nozz,les that IIWe want to hang on t~ as much species diversity as we can, not drip amixture of fuel oil and kerosene,onto the leaf litter. In short ' by preserving individual species, but by restoring functioning order,_ the bllfI.1 team sets lines of fire marching through the woods. eCosystems,1I Smith·says. ' . The flames hug the ground, 'encircling the smaller ~ ___________ ., During a burn, Smith pace,s back and forth, a

, saplings with just enough heat t6 kill them, ' "We' want to hang nervous.fatherwatching the rebirth of an Visitors ~o the park ar~ intrigued, or alanned, by ecosystem. Every few' n:rinutes .he listens to

the blaze: They don't know what to make of Smith, 'on to as much National Weather Service reports on a portable , the bearded, chain-smoking "burn boss" ,who keeps species diversity as radio to make sure that he still is in the "burn

. calling out to the peoplejn the woods to set more . '.' window,1t the weather conditions making it sa.fe to . fir~s. But r~ngers .and education ~pecialists ' are on ' we. ~an, not by set the woods on fire.: The wind veloc~ty .mus.t be hand to explain: sometimes one has 'to burn the ' preserving less than three miles per hour so burning leaves 'trees to save the forest. ' individual species, do not, blow, outside the target area, [fthe air is too

Smith, the senior naturalist at the Brecksville warin or 'dry, the fire might burn too fast and get Reservation, has noticed that areas of oak-hickory but by restoring 'out of controL On the other hand, if it's too humid forest in ,the parkare in trouble, Shade-tolerant functioning' and llie leatlitter is too moist, the fife miShi not ' trees such as beech 'and maple are invadirig and burn hot enough to do the job, blocking out young oaks and hickories, The forest ecosystems. " Smith's bUm team is composed of Metroparks' canopy is growing dens'er and le~s s~ght is . personnel, yolunteers .and an observer from th~ reaching t\le understory plants, As a result, mayapples are going BrecksviUe Fire Department. Team members clear a fire break donnant earlie~ in the swruner: .Dogwoods and hazlenuts ·are · _ aroupd a burn. sit~, seJ the fire and then l~an on their rakes to watch. flowering less. [fleft alone, the whole complex of plants, animals They have tanksofwater ready to put out runaway flames, but"with arid insects t11at makes up the oak-hickory ecosystem will be all the precautions taken, f!1ere is little danger . . suc~eeded by a beecli:.maple ecosYstem. . . . "We don't turI,. fire loose," Smith says .- "We keep it on a leash."

In much of Northeast Ohio; climate_and o¢.er factors make the Such "prescribed burns!' and other techniqu,es of ecologic'al beech-maple forest the ~asf stage. of natural -successioD-the climax restoration are becommg cOInmon ~ou"ghout Ohio. For example, forest. Although there's nothing inherently wrong with·beech-maple ·. The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organization which acquires forests, Smith and the Metroparks want to preserve a diverse and protects rare ecosystems, bums the oak savanna4s at its Kitty collection of habitats. In the wilderness, natural disruptions like fire Todd Preserve near Toledo. The fires reduce tree cover and·

. and flooding by beaver chms keep ecosystems at various stages ~f provide openings for flowering plants. The Division s)lccession, In the ,controlled, hurnan world, however, it often ofNa:tural Areas and Preserves of the Ohio takes active. management to ~aintain diversity-.~urning, -mowing meadows· to prevenf the take.-over of woody plants, bulldozing the earth to create wetlands, or physically remo:ving undesirable; nonnative plant speCIes.

smith's management plan for the oak-hickory ridges in the Brecksville Reservation entails opening up the forestto favor the growth of

. oaks and hickories. First: a crew moves in with 'chainsaws to remove nonnative trees, such as pines, which people had planted years ago when the integrity of ecosystems-wasn't'such a concern. "Prescribed bums II then -kill beech and . . maple saplings 'that are starting to become established. The flres also "remove leaf litter and soil mQistiJr~ that favor -the geimination of beech ~nd maple s~eds. The·last step in ~e

8

Department of Natural Resources .. (ODNR) schedules numerous burns

each year: In addition"ODNR, the ' U.'S, Fish and Wildlife Service a~d conservation organizations such 'as Ducks Unlimited are restoring wetlands throughout the sta·te. .

. "We're trying·to manipulate plant corrimunities that have been d~graded

through human uses and guide them _ back to their condition in presettlement t~es,tI.says Jeff Knoop, of the Nature

Conservancy's Ohio Chap~er .. Ecosystem restoration efforts date back at

least to 1930s when famed wildlife conservatiorus~ AIdo Leqpold initiated a prairie re.storation project at the .University of · Wisconsin Arboretum. The Society fot

EcologicafRestorati?n is now based at the

EcoCily ClEVElANd 0 March 1995

1

universitY. in Madison. what plants once made up prairies in the region. In the .last decade, public interest "I wanted it to ~e historIcally accurate, not

in restoration has , mushroomed, just a mix of species that I thqught would Ecos},stem restorati.on. ~spire~f in part by the work of John look attractive," Smith ·says. ':So I .

Berger-and his organization, didn't plant purple cone flowers. Ecosystem Restoration is Restoring the Earth, in Berkeley, They're beautiful, but they didn't CA Throughout the world, people grow in Northeast Ohio." . using clearly stated,

areplanting trees, restoring creeks . Following. list of nearly 100 measurable, and historically .

and rivers, and creating wildlife species, he collected 'seeds by accurate goals in .an attempt habiiais in their backyards. Many hand. It meant having to learn the

· see themselves as part of ~ movement natural rhytluns of each to reassemble lOcal ecotype~ that goes b~yond defending what's left of the species,knowing what time of year native plant a~danimil natural world. They seek a positive ~xperience of "they flowered and went to seed. Once he healing, of putting back the pieces of shattered . -was too late to get milkweed seeds. The pods specieS'So that they may re-ecosystems. opened and the feathery seeds floated .away on the . establish interrelations tl;!at

S9me environmentalIsts, however, . worry that an breeze. He chased them with a butterfly net. may ~ave existed between emphasis ori restoration may be counterprpductive. In an. effort to obtain native strains of each p1antJ It may divert effort from wilderness preservation. Smith tried to 'collect seeds from within 100 nii.les them jtistprior to settlement

And, even though the restoration of complex ' of Brecksville. He frqwns at those who order seeds . by non:indigenous peoples, ecosystems is still more oia crall. than a science from far-away mail-order houses. "If you want to and doesn't always work, it may lull the public into just buy something and plug it in, get a toaster," he The resulting e.cosystems accepting 'continued development of natural ar~as says. will appear and function as a .by promoting a Dpritos-like·hubrfs:."Go ahead and Over several years, Smith'and Metroparks ' . ,viable ecosystem and not a destroy all the wetlands you want. We'll make more volunteers .gathered oushels of seeds and then dried so there's no net loss." them, sorted .them, and gave them cold treatments static planting (i.e., some

But restoratiorusts .believe that the: pace of global in a refrigerator to prepare them for spring planting. spe:cies will increase, ~ome environmental 'deStruction is so. great that it's -Starting in 1981, sections of the plot were tom up necessary.to act now to start repairing the darriage ... · with a tractor-mounted rototiller and the' seeds were will decr'ease, and some ,:¥ill Davi~ Brower, former executive director of~e. sown. appea.r-in lo'cations in which .Sierra Club and a .founder of Friends of the Earth Now the prairie has grown up into a thriving th I '" . ey were never p ante~l' and the Earth Island Institute, has been involved in profti~iori of big bluestem, Indian grass, prairie creating an International Green Circle~ an "Earth cordgrass, dense blazing star, prairie dock, Ohjo Ecosystem Restoration . Corps" that will send teams of volunteers to places goldenweed, tall coreopsis, stiff goldelUod. and allows species to continue to in need of environmental 1"'"------------"""1 other plants But even though the evol ve because they 'are -healmg. He. frow,ns at those prairie is established, the

If naturaI' a~eas J:tave not restoration .work must continue. allowed to, experience t~e who order seeds been' too degraded: it may not If left alone, the prairie's tall . processes of natural

·ta\<e much to help them ' from far-away mail- grasses would crowd out smaller ' . regenerate, The Fish and d h "''f plants, then wo.ody shrubs and selection. The processes of

'Oli er ouses. I, you Wildlife Service has restored trees would encroach: Eventually Eco~ystem Restor~tion offer hundreds acres· of wetlands in . want tOjust buy. a forest would shade out the '

. . . the rare opportunity for the state since 19.89 simply by something and plug: pniirie plants.

· cutting drain tiles and erecting · So Smith and his assistants people to estab~ish , a it in, get a toaste. r. " . . small dikes ' so water is allowed keep experimenting with , harmonious and mutually to collect as it did before the . management techniques, trying land was drained for farriring. Many wetland plant . to mimic the natural disruptions t!Lat might hav~ . beneficial ,r~lationship v.(tth

.. species have reappeared naturally at. these sites, . maintained a prairie himdreds of years ago. They na~e. Ongqing-r~storation 'growing from seeds that l.ay dormant.in the soil for . bum sections 6fthe prairie and study the-impact on .efforts are frequently years. Similarly, ODNR's Division of Natural species 'distribution. And .. because the prairie is . Areas and Preserves and the Cleveland MuseUm of . missing hoofed grazers like the elk and bison that necessary to maintain th.e Natural History moved some sand to create a once created openings f~r some of the smaller, restored ecosystems at a shallow pond. at Mentor Headlands Dune:s State flowering plants, ,they've 'even b.rought in a horse to

. . specific stage in the . Nature Preserve, and rare plant specIC:s suddenly do some selective gra~mg and trampling. appeared in the wet, sandy habitat. "Restoration is not something you do once and· continuum of succession. It

Other r'estoration attempts are more complex, ·then walk away," Smith says: "One of the biggest such as Karl Sinith.'s projects in the' Cleveland . human disruptions has been to stop natural . Metroparks. In one experimeElt, Smith has created a . disruptions. If an ecosystem is not managed, it will two,.acre tallgrass prairie from scra,tch out of a tend to go in one direction and 10!:ie its diversity, So

· weedy playfield in the Brecksviile Reservation. He we try. to nudge things in what we. think is a started'with bptanicaJ research, trying· to figure out positive direction." 0 . . . .' .

'. EeoChy ClEVElANd 0 March 1 995

-Karl Smith Senior N~turalist,

Cleveland Metroparks '.

~.f.f"iI>¢~"'? f:4 9

I

.,

SPRAWL c> . .

Ouesti()ning the American Dream: Californians seel< future "beyond .sprawl" When a major bank starts to question urban sprawl you know the pro~/em has reached serious propar"lions. And thatis what has

. happened in California. The state's largest , bank, the Bank of America has joined with a . diverse coalition of conservation and ~ housing groups-Greenoelt Alliance, ihe California ResOl.lrces Agency, and the LOlY

"Income Housing Fun.d---':'Jo declare that continued sprQlY' threatens California's 'economic future and q'uality o/life.

The groups' recenlreporl, Beyond Sprawl: New. Patterns. of Growth to Fit the New ·California, challenges the state to .. rethink how it will grow in the future. II ;s particularly interflstingfor its .description of "how sprawll~~eatens not just inner cities and environmental quality b~t also the business climate of a region .

. ExCJ!rfJtsfrom the report are "reprinted below. As you read them, consider this thought: Narth~ast Ohio-does not yet suffer from California-size sprawl, bht development trends are leading us down the same road . .in order to avoid the fate of Ca./ifornia\ we need to act now to ;nanage growth. We ha.ve.an opportunity to create a ~ more sustainable future~ metropolitan

. r.egion .iNa! will succeed in the 21 st ·cent~ry. •

Beyond sprawl California is at a uniqu~ and unprecedented point in its history- a point at which we face profo~nd questi~ns about o~r future ·; growth that. will petermi~e the st.ate's . economic vitali·ty and quality aflife for the n.ext gener~tion and beyo.nd ..

. One of the .most: fundamental questipns .. .we face is whether California can afford to

support the 'pattern of urban and. suburban .developrrient, often referred·to as "sprawl,'t that IJas characterized its growth since World War II. .

There is nq question that this Pattern of growth has . help~d fuel California's unparalleled economic and population .boom, and that it has enabled millions of Californians to realiz~ the enduring dr~am of home ownership. B·ut as we approach the

.. 21st 'centUry·, it is clear that sprawl has· created enormous costs th~t California c~n no' longer. afford. Ironically, uncheck,ed

. sprawl has shilled from an engine. of .

10 ·

"Continued sprawl may seem inexpensive for a Dew homebuyer or a growing business on the suburban fringe, hut tbe ultiniate cost-'-to those homeowners, to the goverome"t, and to society at \arg~s potentially crippling, Allowing sprawl may be pOlitically expedient in the sbort run, but in the long run ·it will make California , economically uncompetitive and create social, enl'ironmental and political problems we ·may Dot be able to solve.tI

• • < • . ' • " . . .

California's growth to a force that now threatens to inhibit growth and degrade the quality oJ Our life. . . . This report, sponsor~d by a diverse coa,lition of organizations, is meant to serve

. as a cail for California to' move beyond '"sprawl and rethink the way we will. grow in the future. This is not ·a new idea, but it is . one that has never beep more critical ·or urgent.

Despite dramatic changes in California over the last decade, traditional development patterns have accelerated . . Urban job cent.ers have decentralized to the suburbs. New housing tracts have. moved -..

-·even de~per into. agricultur~1 a.nd -~nvironmentally s~nsitjve areas: Private auto· use continues to rise: · .

This acceleration ofspraw! "has surfaced . . . . .

enonnous social, enyironm~ntal and economi~ costs, which u~ti1 now bave been hidden, ign·ared, or quietly borne by society. T~e. burden.ofthese.co.sts i's be~oming very clear. Businesses suffer from higher cos.ts, a loss in worker productivitY, and" 'underutilized investments in older communities . .

Californ·ia's busin~ss climate becomes less attractive than surrounding states. Suburban residents pay a heavy price in . 1axa~ion and automobile expenses, whiJe residents of older cities and suburb~ lose access ·to jobs, social stabili.ty, and political power. AgricultUre and ecosystems also suffer. .

There: is a fu,ndamel)tai dynamic to growth, whether it be the growth ora

. community or a corporation; that evolves·

. frQm expansion to ' maturity~ The early stag~s of growth are often exuberant· and unchecked-that has certainly been the case in -

the next few years to meet this challenge. To ' build a strong vibrant econ"omy and ensure a

. high quality oflife forthe 21st century, we .must move, beyo"nd sprawl in the few . remaining years ofthe 20th century.

, post-World War II California, But unche~ked growth cannot be sustained forever. At some

_ point this initial surge must mature into ~ore mamiged, strategic growth, This,is the point . Sprawl's costs for business

. where we now stand in California. Many businesses benefit fro~ suburban .. We can no 19nger afford the luxury of . . locations. But all bu~iness~s, both smail 'and

,sprawl. Our demographics are shifting in _ large, also bear many of the following qosts;-, dra~atic ways. Our economy is restru~turing. ' . Adve,rse jmpacts on the'state,'s : Our envirobment is unq,er increasing stress. business cli~a~e. By reducing the quality of We cannot shape <!:alifomia1s "future- ." life", sprawl has made California a less successfully unless we' move beyond sprawl. desirable " lo~ation for business "owners and

T~is is not a call for:timiting growth) btlt a potential 'employees .. By fncre~sing suburban call" for Califotnia to be smarter about how"it resistance to further growth, sprawl has made grows..:...-to invent ways' we can create compact it diffi"cult for businesses to 'relocate arid

" and efficient growt~ pattern$ r---'.' .... ____ ...; __ .. _~ expand in CalIfornia. Both t~at are responsive to the C 1'& •• these trends increase the , aiIJOrma IS at a unique

"needs of-people at all income attractiveness of levels, ana also help maintain ' and unpreredented neighboring states such as California's quality oflife and point in its history-a Arizona, Nevada, and economic competitiveness. . pOint at which we face ' Utah. For example, a

It is a tall order--<)n~ that profound-questions' major film studip recently 'calls for us' to rise above our . about our future decided to' relocate its occasional isolation as animation facility to individuals and interest growth that .will Arizona, principally groups, and address the$e determine the state'S because of lower housing profound challenges as a economic vitality and pri'cesand less traffic

community. All of quality of life for the congestion. us---=-go:vernment agencies. • Higher direct 'businesses; community , next generation and business costs and taxes

organizations and peyond. ·to offset tbe side-effects citize~s-play ~ role. Our of sprawl. This can acti~ns shoulq be guided by include the_cosr of new the following goals: business 'infrastru~ture or of mitigating

• To provide more certainty in determining transportation and environment~1 problems: . ~here neW developme~t should ~nd should For ex~mple, in many metropolitan areas, air-not occur. quality re~lators haye forced busin"esses ·to

• To make more efficient use of land that take the lead in fighting air pollution by has already been developea, including a " initiating carpooling programs for their strong fOC4S "on job creation ani housing in employees. vstablished urban areas. • A geographical misrn~tc~ betWeen

• To establish a legai and procedural workers and jobs, leading to higber.lab9r

framework that will create the desire~ ·costs ao"d a loss in" worker productivity. certainty !lnd send the right economic signals Many workers must now commute long to in:vestors. " " distanees to their jobs, which "takes a

, • to build a b,oad-bas~d co~stituency t;, sig,nificant toll on their persona), family and combat-sprawl that" includes environ- profess~onallife. Many other workers are ment~list~, cortu:nimity organizations, removed from large portions o,fthe job.market

" businesses, farmers, government leader"s and simply becau~e they cannot get to where the ~. -j*~. ' "

• ' Abandoned investme'rits in older " . Californians are already taking some of

these steps. We have attempted in this report to not only point ,out the obstacles to sustained growth, but also to highlight the positive actions th~t are occurring to better manage. growth. Our, fundamental message is that we· must build on these early successes and take " -more comprehensive and decisiv~ " steps over

EcoCiTy ClEvElANd Q March 1995

communities, which become econo.:nically - . un~ompeiitive' because of sprawl aod its

associated subsidies. This i"s "especially true of the statels utility companies, whose . investments 'in "gas. elej:tric and water infrastructure are literally rooted in. established "communities. [) .

Sprawl notes • Sprawl taxe. Chicago. Elected

officials of newer municipalities ~ften try to lure ~~iness development to establish a strong tax base and reduce taxes ,on their voters. But, according to

a r"ecent Federal Reserve B'¥1k study ih the Chicago area, this municipill development strategy can promote urban sprawl and, higher taxes forth;'

region as a whole.

The study found that "becaUSE:

" people tend to follow jobs, 'Ylth business grow~h encouraging

population growth in a w~ole cluster of ~ommunities, economic deveiopment"in

. one community may create higher tax

rates for nearby ~.ommunities, whjch do not receive the tax benefits of business growth." Other unintendetf consc;quences of beggar-thy-neighbor development pat~erns ar~" .increased "

competition befween communities. difficulty in.preserving valuablcQpen

spa~c, and worsening trapsPQrtation problems created by ~prawling land uses.

• A~oiher voice for.,regionalism. . We were intrigued by 'the arguments for '

regionalism put forth by former " Congressman Dennis Eckart in a recent .

" Plain Dealer opinion piece. He npted

the mismatch between our loc:aVcountY

govern~ents' and the regional problems they have to face-especially problems of school funding and economic development. ' . ..'

To end school funding disparities, .

'Eckart called for the consolidation of lo~ar school distri~ts into it countywid"e

district for budgetary .and ta~ing purposes. He also called for the freation of a seven.co~nty Regional

Economic DeveJ~pment Board .. which , would help fund projects ';f benefit to '

all Northeast Ohio . . "Why regionalize?" he aSked, .

"~ecause it's time we realized thatl10

one city or county can go "it alone "and 'that most economic development

projects have benefits that reach far ,beyond the artificial bo~ndary lines of '

the" city or county w~ere they are· located."

11

..

ECOCITY DIGEST

Taking care of transit and children

In an effort to link transit with other services, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority has plans to build a Head Start Day Care Center next to its

Wiridermere Rapid Station in East Cleveland. The project noi only . could attract new riders to RTA hut -

· would benefit a low-income -_community that is unde~served ,by day.care. RTA·is also looking at the

. Red Line's Ttiskett station as' a potential day care site.

The co~gress.will be in 1996, and . the organizers are seeking input on people and organizations who pught to be involved.-Themes to be explored in,e1ude green ci~ie~J . sustainable agriculture, energy conservation, permaculture and more. For information, contact LarrY

·Patrick at (412) 738-2956.

Portage County stencils · The Portage County Soil and Water Conservation Districds the latest group in the area to begin a stonn drain s.teQciling project. By painting warning signs on .the street next to . catch basins, volun.teers i~form the public that chemicals .dumped down storm s~wers flow into 10c~1 streams

. and lak,es, To participate, call Dick A place for intermodalism RTA is beginning a $1.25 million study to determine the best place to build a new intermodal hub for . Greater Cleveland. The hub would integrate existing bus, rapid, and intercity rai l services~ -as well as futu~e high-speed fail an~ commuter

. , Wetzel at 296-.4311.

· rail services. Two sites ' are being cpnsid"ered: Tower Cfty and a site on the dow~town lakefront afong RTA's new Waterfn;>nt rail line.

Canoe the Crooked River .The ever-ac;lventurous members of the Friends -of the' Crooked River are repeating"their cele'hrated canoe t,our ·ofthe Cuyahoga River. On Sundays

· between March 19 and September 17 _ they wil" be ·covering 4' to 10-mile secti9nS of the river from SR 87 near Burton to Lower Harvard Avenue in ' Clevelana: Canoe rentals' are available for most trips. Call 666-4026 for a schedule and to make reservations.

Greening the rust belt The good folks at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania are planning a Bioregional Congress for the Upper "Ohio River area be~een

· Clevelimd arid Pittsburgh. T~ey are advancing the interesting id,ea that our bioregion consi"sts of the glaciated Allegheny Plateau ·

. oV,erlayed by a historic 'corridor of ·heavy industry .. The goal ofthe

-. congress is to bring together people from this area to develop ~ vis~on for' preserving and celebrating this' place we call home.

12

Sav·ing the Upper cuyaho!la The pristine upper reaches of the . Cuyahoga River are' increasingly threatened by development brought by new highways such as·U.S. 422 and [-4~0 . In response, Geauga Courity and Portage Cou~ty Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the He@dwaters Landtrust ai~, seeking "funds to restore and maintain a wooded buffer'strip alorig the river. The project aim~ to purchase I~nd and conservation easements to limit

. development along the river,

Paying .and paying for nuClear power

The hidden cos,t$ of nuclear power ~eep addingup.­Centerior

, Energy Corp, recently increased its ~stimate of the cost of closing three nuclear power plants it wholly or partly owns by $700 million. The plants- Davis-Besse, Perry and Beaver Valley 2- have a planned life-span of 40 years. Then they have to be decommissioned, which involves dispOSing of massive qlJ.antities of radioactive materials . As nuclear waste disposal costs-keep' -inere.asing, the cost of , deeommiss.ioning the plants could keep skyrocketing. 'Consumers in Northern Ohio will probably pay most ofthe bill. .

. .

~ressure' pOints . • U1uminating trends. ' Folks living near [-271 arid

.. Wi.lson Mills Road are findipil yet anoth~r thing to dislike ' about the high·speed lanes being constrUcted in the formerly Wooded median of the interstate-towering new light poles over the interchange'''Now there's ·an,orange glow that blocks out the stars/'saysllne nearby resident. "It waS' down with the trees and up with the light poles·." Residents oftheneighborhood arealsoobjecting:toa . zonil1g variance that will allow Developers Diversified to incl\lde less greel). space ill.a project converting the Front Row Theater to a superstore.

. • BuOdoz,ing breeding groundS: John Katko ",1 Friends of Wetlands notes in his recent news)elter 'that v~rnal poolsrWoodland pools thatftll \Vith water in me. •

, spring-are critical breeding grounds fois~la~anders and other amphibians. Yet\yetwooi!s are am~)Og tbe.most commonly destroyed \Vetlandhabitats. In nortbern Lorain <;:ounty the losses are especially sevire, ,.'

• Moving TinkersCreek. Twinsbuigresidentsand wetland activists areconcemed about a proposal to rOlosate. )l5.4.footsegmen\.ofTinkerS Cte<;~ and fill adj~centwetlands to make w~y (ora}arge.cop1met;<lial development at S]l '91 and 1-480. Cqnstrilcti';ll and stortn"1ater runoff from parking,lotscou.1d damage t~e

friJ.(lile creek. ' . , , . . ' . ',' . . . • City water' Residents ofthe Chagrin River v.illage 9f .

Gates Mills are sparring .over ,a proposal to bring city water to theeommuru!y. Concem.s about the purity of , well .water, ~pon which about two-thirds ofresiMnts de~end, bave promptedtlans tohookup.to the City of"

. Cleyeland water system. The. trouble is, that city 'Yater lines .might encourage development, destroy the rural. atmosphere of the village, 'JIId, ironically, end up increasing, pollutlon oOocal str.eams,

• Subdivision surPtise. Cleveland Electric Illuminating CO"S proposed venlure into real estate development-~ 27-home sUbdi'visionin.Lllke County-has alarmed conserv~tionists and Lllke Metroparks officials. ThedeveJ~pment site oyerlooks Pain.e Creek, a major tributary to the Grand Riyer. Home

:cOnstrilction on the unstable soils eQuId load the streams with silt and polluted runoff. Lllke Metroparks had been

',negotiating to buy the land and add ino Indian POint Park. One park official said the project was sad and ironic: "CBlwants to do a ·demonstration l'roj'ect of; environmentally-friendly homes with geothefl)l~1 heating; but they could destroy the enVironment to make the . horuesfitthe site." .

• Bath open space., Bath Twp. residen!s'concerrted , about the fate of the 1,500.acre Firestone, estate are moving quickly to place a ievy on th~ Noyember ballot to enable thetoWllshiptob.uy'all orsoJ1!eofthe property froOl its preselit owner; Ohio"State University, R.esidents 'believe the community could then recoup' its investl)1ent by selling portions of the land to the local school district . and Surntnit Met",parks. Small porti,onscoutd he sensitively developed. For information, call643-932~ .

EcoCiry Cl.vEiANd 0 March 1995

Bicycle news Treating bicyclists as first-class citizens Bicyclists chose a form· of transportatioh thafis energy­saving, nonpollutil1g, non-" congesting, aqd socially­benign. 80 why do harassing ·

. motorists and unresponsiv~ public officials treat them like second-class. citizens?" .

It doesn't have to be that way, according to a recent article in the newsletter of the Cleveland Area Bicycling Association: "Imagine a community where every road is bike-friendly., where bicycle racks are available everywhere you need them, and where bikes are accommodated pit public traosit service. Cities arou~d the country are moving in this direction, but only after their citizens -have asked for it. 1t

To get people ·thinking about what's needed in the Cleveland area, the article offered a cycling wish list based on the ~xperience of cities with a high percentage of bicycling for both recreation and transportation. M~st ofthe. measures would cost relatively little to impiement and·would use existing infrastructure:

• A citizen's bicycl~ advisory committee to ~~view in the planning stages all road improvements and all bicyde facilities.

• Publication of bicycle maps showing bike routes and streets recommended for cycling based on.Iane widths · and traffic volume and speed.

• bicycle access on mass transit and secure, long-~erm bicycle parking at transit stops.

. • Zoning codes that require

EcoCiTy ClEVElANd 0 March 1995

"bicycle parking, wherever car parking is require~. .

.• Bicycle accommodation jn all new roads and road improvel.11ent~.

• A full-time bicycle coo.rdinat.or .

. • An organized and vocal bicycle community.

• Local and regional govemIJ1ent that initiates dialogue between cyclists and policy. makers.

• Education programs for motorists about cyclists' rights

· to the road. • Bieycle: s~fety . education

in the schools. • A .Spot Improvement

Program for ·minor road repairs to make bicycle travel safer.

• No legal limits to cycling, such as bicycle restricted streets and mandatory·si.dewalk la~s .

• Official support of. national Bike-to-Work Day.

. • Well-engineered urban trails wherev.er existing roads are inadeql.late for cycling.

• Use of abandoned rail . lines for bicycle transportation

· a~d linear parks . . • Miles of bicycle-only

lanes or extra-wide curb lanes. • Active an·d equitable

enforcement oftr!'lffic laws for ' motorists. and c"yclists.

," Bicycle police patrols (as · Cleveland has started recently).

• Traffic light synchronization that keeps traffic at post.ed·speed limits and allows cyclists to 9lear inter~ections safely· duri~g light" changes.

.• A comprehensive regional bicycle transportation plan (which the Northeast Ohio

Areawide Coor~inating · Agency is working on).

For more informati.on about the Cleveland Area Bicycling Association, call 522-2944.

Bike planning workshop

· The status of bicycle planning in the five-county region will be the topic of a workshop May 13 ~ponsored by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency. Bicyclists and other interested citizens are encouraged to· attend and help kick off the developme-rit of a regional .bike transportation plan .. For more inf(jrm~tion, call NOACA ·at 241-2414, ext. 275.

Still no bikes on Rl'A · For several years, local bicycle activists have ·been trying in vain to get RTA to install racks on buses. In cities such as Phoenix and Seattle, racks mounted on the front of buses have proven very successful. They extend the range of transit by allowing riders to bike to bus stops, ride the bus; and then finish their journey by bike.

Re.cently, the Earth Day Coalition asked RTA to experiment ,:"ith bike racks on buses that will be used by ~ participants in the upcoming EarthFest. Earth Day staff researched how the racks have been used in other cities and . pcovided the information to .

· RTA. But, again, RTA refused to give them a try ..

. Before adding racks·on buses, the agency is waiting to see how many cyclists use .. ..

soon-to-be-installed bike . parking racks mounted· at transit stops. Nearly tv.:.o years

· ago, RTA obtained special . funding to (lUrchase and· install 50 such racks, but the project has been delayed by red lape .. It seems state regulations require RTA to go through the time­consuming process ·of obtaining legislative permission from every community where racks will be located. "Uts become the

· projeci from hell," grumbles one RTA staff member.

Bike to work · Wheels of Change, the bicycle

advocacy project ofthe Northeast Ohio Greens, has planned bike to work days on the last. Wednesdays of May, July and September. Riders from around the area converge· in downtown Cleveland in a · demonstration for be~er bike . facilities. " . The project ·also has a new

slogan ·for t-shirts: "Work to liv.eJlive to bikelbike to work'" For more information, call ·575-7551,-or come to weekfy plann,ng meetings·on Wednesdays, 8-9 a.m: at the Brewed Awakenings coffee shop, l836 Prospect Ave.

Critical mass For cyclists who believe in more extreme forms of direct action, a·local ad hoc .group ·is organizing a "Critical Mass" bicycle protest on April 21 to take·back tHe streets from cars. Ih other cities, such protests have brought together bundreds of cyclists to obstruct cars on bridges and major commuter routes. Call 321-8794 for details .

13

.1

i

GLEANINGS

Sahli moves on With the Republicans in control of the Ohio Statehouse and

:. governor's office, sometimes it seems like a new environmental horTor .story ·co~es out of , ColulT!bus every week. But things would have been even worse in . rec,ent y~ars if not for the work of envi ronmental activists like Richard Sahli, who recently resigned as the executive. director ·of the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC).

Few individuals in the Ohio environmental m9v~n:tent combine Sah li's expertise (he. formerly was an assistant director of Ohio EPA), energy and passionate feelings for environmental justice.' He will be missed at OE;C. But we hope ~at,

after a well-deserved break, he finds a new hich!! from ,which to continue his activism ..

In a farewell letter to GEC tnembers, he wrote:'

"I have only' a few departing words' of wisdom because everyone concerned about environmental protl1ction knows what is at stake here in our state and what level of effort i ~ needed to s~cce~d in these 'challenging times. New citizen leaders as well as seasoned veterans. wi 11 have to come forward in large numbers if Ohio's environmental quality is to be truly secure, Members of the ' public at large need to be

. .activated. on a daily basis, to walk with str~ngth ofnumb~rs thtough tJ'te haUs of Congress, the Stateho~se, and down at City Hall. ,People who db not commit time need to. support effective environmentaJ organizations wi~h SU9stantiai financial

'. contributions, ' It is. activity that· ; starts with family, neighbors and

co-workers but in the end will embrace ali people with the capac'ity to care and the wi llingness to take action to p'romote a more just and brighter future.."

lake Erie plan. underway . In the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, t~e governments of, the United States an~ . Canada

14 '

.pledged to "restore and maint~in

the chemical, pnysi.cal and biological integrity 'of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem," The ~greement calls for Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) to devise comprehensive' cl'eanup plans for the 43 most polluted areas aro.und the Jakes, including the Black, Cuyahoga and'Ashtab!Jla' rivers in Northeast ., Ohio.

·the agre~ment also requires , the 'governmerits tl? cooperate on

a Lakewide Management Plan . (LaMP) to restore each lake. This piau fOI Lake Erie js now underway, with Ohio act ing as

, the lead state' on the U.S. side of . the border. The plan will add~~ss ' water, pollutants, as well as all other stresses to the Lake .Erie ecosystem (e.g:, habitat loss, air pollution deposited into the lake . and exotic species}.

The public is encouraged t'o ' get involved in the LaMP . proces·s. For more infonnation, . call Lauren Lambert at Ohio EPA, (614) 728-1362.

Clean jobs A new study by the· North Carolina-based Institute for -S'outhem Studies concludes that "states wit~ the best environmental records also offer the best job opportunities and climate for long-t.erm economic development. tt"The study ranked Ohio'among the 14'worst states on both measures.

Buying iocaliy • The Cuyahoga Hours barter

£urrency project continues to develop. with about'60, ·peop'ie' signed up to trade services. For more information, call 932-,2 t 32.

• The Community Supported Agriculture project of Silver ".

" Creek Farm, an, organic farm near , Hir~> is signing up members for the 1995 gro~i"g season. Members invest in the fann in the spring and share· in the harve~t. The goal is to link organic food producers with consumers in the surrounding region. For more infonnation, call

.569:3487.

Permits to pollute Here ru.e some Ohio EPA actions of interestJrom re~ent we~ks. For complete and uiHo-date lists ~fpennit activities in your county, w~tch for weekly legal notices in your local newspaper. For more detailed information, call1he Ohio 'EPA Northeast District Office in Twj~sburg, 425-9171

Fines , . Ford's ·Lorain Assembly Plant has agreed to pay Ohio EPNa $45,0,0,0, settlement for 'air pollution violations-:excessive e~issions ofv<;JlatiJe organic compounds ft:om an ,enamel paint spr~y area. Las~ y~ar, f,h~ Ford plant agreed-to pay up to $ 10,0,00, to refmburse the city of Lorain, for costs incurred because, Ford di$charged water laden. w.ith . h~avy metals into the City's waStewater treatment plant. . . Water pollution .' -

Kalt Manufacturing, North Ridgeville, discharge to·Black Rive" Sterling Foundry, Wellington, discharge to Charlemont Creek. RepublicPowdered Metals, Medina. discharge to tributary of West

B;anch Rocky River. ' '. . Uno-Ven, Akron, discharge to Schoc.alog Run. ,

Air pollution nsl:iorne Concrete and Stone, Grand River~ concrete c-,:"shc;r. Omega Pultrusions, Aurora, plastic composite pultrusion I!Jies. ,Sterling Foundry, W~lling.ton. gray iron furnace . . :rri-County Concrete, Twinsburg, concrete crusher, Bosti~, Twinsburg, masonry product~ blendinglpack~ging. Georgia-Pacific, Cleveland, surface coating lip.e. Avery Deiiniso~, Painesvjlle Twp·., pressure sensitive 'c~ater and

drying ove,ns.. . , Commerci&1 Anodizing, ,Willoughby, sulfuric acid anodiz!ng lines. Spray-Cure; Madison, dry mixing and batching of grouts,' Hydro'Tube, Qberlin, heat cleaning oven. ' Nylonge, Elyria, process equipment for cellulose sponge

pr~duction.

Solid waste Authorization for Warner Hill Development Co. to engage ill

maintenance improvements to stabilize' waste and improve cover soi l at Warner HiIlLandfill, Garfield Heights. . .

Sewerlwater line extensions Del Corpo InClustriarPark, Broadview Heigbts. Royalton Heights Subdiv·ision No.5, North Royalton ..

. Woodfield Estates. Subdivision No. I, Avon Lake. North Park Estates ~ubdivisio~ Pha'se 1, Brunswick~ .

. Woodfield No.1, Avon Lake. . . Devonshire Meadows C<?ndos, Avon.Twp. .' Corrierstone Park Subdivision Phase 1, Rootstown. Eastwicke Fanns No.5, Stow. Robin Ridge Condos, Tallmadge. Hyman Builders Subdivision No. 3 ~ Seven Hills. Preserve Phase 3A and 3B, Solon. Laurel Springs at Bainbrook, Bainbridge Twp. ' Bridgewater Village Phase I, Chardon. High'land Park SubdiVision No.1, AYon, Charter Lakes Estates Phase 4; Northfield Center . . Driftwood Lane, Macedonia. Stow Woods Phase I,. Stow. Ethan's ClreenPhaSe2A, Twinsburg.

Wetland 14011 permits Gerald Borac, E~t1ake, proposed denial of permit for shee~ile bulkl\e~d and docks along Chagrin River.

EcoCil)' . <,=IEvEiANd 0 March 1995 .

-I

I ·

BIOREGIONAL CALENDAR

Earth Day 25th anniversary Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Earth D'ay on April 23 at EarthFeSt '95, Ohio's largest environmental' education event, 9 a.m.'-to 5 p.m. at the Cleveland Metr~piu-ks Zoo .. This year's EarthFest will feature:

• A Non:-Profit Pavilion \vhh e~hibits ,from environmental organizationS, commWlity groups. government agencies and schools. '

• A Gre'en Business Are,awlth displays on ,environmentally-related businesses.

• The Party with the Planet Entertainment ·ATea with live music.

, .. The Children's Activjty Area.with hands~on activities: ' .

• The Environmental SCience Area with special demonstrations.

A fivc1mile march to EarthFcst and teo­"miie biki!.'ride wiU assemble on Cleveland . Public Squai;e at 8:30 a.m. All march~rs, . bicyclists and those taking RTA buses to the Zoo (shuttles from Public Squate and RTA . park & ride lots) will receive free admission to EarthFcst. OtherS'\vill pay $2. CalI 281-6468 for more information,

April 14 Gardening for wildlife, a talk by th~ Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Sara'-Peters ", on attrac;:ting butterflies with her.bi; an'd nativ,e piants, 7:30 p.m. at the Garfield 'Paik Nature Center, 11350 Broadway Ave.

April 19 Julie Sibbing, wetlands coordinator for the Great Lake's office of the National Audubon

. Society, will speak on the value of wetlands . and 'current regulatory efforts at 7:30 p.m, at

the John Carroll University Student Activities Center, Jardine Room,

April 21 . Peter Dunne.. one, 9"f birding's best known figures .and an acclaimed' storyteller, will speak at 8 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in UniversitY Circle. Tickets are -$8. Can 231-4600 for' reservations,

April'21-22 . Oberlin College Greening the Urban

, "Environment Confer~nce featuring Nancy Dye and Henry Holme~ from Earth Island Institute;s Urban Habitat Program, I,.Irbari · planner Norman' Krumholz of Clev'eland Slate University's 'College of Urban Affairs, . ecological designer John Lyle, Eric Mann of the Los 'Angeles Labor Community Strategy Center, and. Diane Dillon Ridgely of the ·Citizens Network for Sustainabl ~

Development. Call 774,3504 for details.

EcoCiry ClEVElANd 0 March.' 1995 '

April 22 ,Workshop on getting to ~now' your bioregion, 9 ~,m. to Iloon at the EarthSpit'ituality Center near Oberlin, Call 322-8142 for registration ' information and information about other programs.

April 22 Earth Day cleanup oft~e Packard Drive drainage in Lorain, whi,ch feed s a wetland along the Black River, Meet at thlt comer of Packard "and Chelsea Ave. at i0:30 a.m. Sponsored by the EI Centro Youth Center and Friends of the Black River. '

April 22' .' . Earth Day celebra,tion and carnival, 10 . a.m. to 4 .p.m., at the Shaker Lakes

.Regional Nature Center, 2600 South Park Blvd. Call 321-5935 for details:

April 22· Slide presentation by renowned n=!-ture photographer'Ro,bert Glenn Ketchum, 7:30 p.m, at Happy Days Visitor Center of the C~yahoga Valiey National Recreation Area on SR303. Admission $7, Sponsored by the Cuyalioga Valley Photographic Socie:ty.

April 23 Organic gardening teach-in sponsored by Growing Together Organically. the urban gardening project of the Northeast Ohio"Greens , for more information, calt . 631-3233 or 237-0673 .

April 24

Spring . ~-r-bird walks ....,---Northeast Ohio's . r 62nd A~ual Sefies -.... '~.' -., ' of Spring Bird , . ,. r WalkS will take' place on Sunday mornings at 7:30 a.m. ftomApril 9 through 'May 14. Led by experienced birders, the walks will depart from tbe foliowing' locations: • Aurora Sanctuary Qf the Audubon SocietY of

Greater Cleveland, parking:loton' E. Pioneer Trail in Aurora. . . ,

• Bedford Reservl,ltion. Hemlock Creek Picnic Area. • Big Creek Reservation. Lake Isaac. • Breci9>ville Reservation, Station Road Bridge

' .Trailhead off RiverView Road. • Garfield- Park Reservation Nature Center. • . Geauga Park District, various' locations, ca1l285~

2222. • ,Hinckley -Reservation, ,b.ridge at "south end of

Hinckley Lake: . • Holden Arboretum, main parking lot off Sperry

Road. • Runtington Reservation, Huntington Beach

parking lot.. • Lake Metroparks, various locations) call 256¥] 404, • Mentor Marsh; parking area on Headlands Road. • North Chagrin Reservation, Sunset Pond off

Buttermilk falls Parkway. • Novals: Sanctuary of the Audubon Society of

Greater Cleveland, parking lot on Aurora lown ' Line'Road in, AUrora . .

II Rocky River ReselVation Nature Center on Valley Parkway. " . ,.\

• Shaker Lakes RegionarNature Centeri • Sims Park, nlain entrance off Lake Shore Blvd. in'

Euclid. , , • South Chagrin Reserv~tion, L~pk:About ~dge on

Miles Ave, west of ,River Road , ' Dr. Myrna, Cunning~am, a Miskito Indian, human-rights leader and

For more infonnatioll;. can 734-6660. , . Nicar.aguan university rector, will speak ab?ut sustainable development in the Caribbean co.astal region of Nicaragua, 7:30

,p,m. at Fairmount Presbyterian 'Church in Cleveland Heights. Cunningham will also ' speak with a4thor Margaret Randall ,' at 8 p.m"

, Apdl 26, at S.trosacker·College Union, Ballroom, Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, 9~I1 826-2263 for more irifQ[mation.

April 26 Jill! Schwab, author of Deeper Shades of Green: The Rise of Blue-Collar and Minor:ily EnvironmentaUsm, will speak on grassroots" environmental struggles that haye occurred in Cleveland ·and around the nation, at '7':30 p.m. at the John Carroll Unive~sity Student

,Activities Center, Jardine ~oom . . April 25 Workshop on transporta~ion and spraw.1 spo':1sored by the ~ortheast Ohio Sierra Club ' Urban Sprawl Committee, 7 p.m, at the Lakewood Public library, 15425 Detroit Rd . . Call 791-8043 for more infonnatitm.

April 26. Trairiing session for ~Iack 'Riyer

. water quality monitoring ' volunteers, 6 p:m. at the office of Seventh Generation, 25 !---ake Ave. in Elyria. Call 322-4187 for more infonnation ..

April 27 Lead Hazard CO.Qtrol seminar to address lead problems whi.le providing safe, affordable housing, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the W.O. Walker Center, 10500 Euclid Ave. in Cleveland. Call the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Corp. at 687-0177 for regis~ration information ..

April 29 ~EED ~hiom~nthly meeting, 9 a.m, at Cleveland State University College of yrban Affairs, E. 18th and Euclid. Call 791-9520 for detaiis. .

15

MAP OF THE MONTH

Landforms of Ohio This map 'from the Ohio Division of Geological Survey gives one an appreciation o~the statels major landforms- the fiat Lake Pl~in; rolling Glaciated Allegheny Plat~au. and deeply dissected Ungla.ciated Plateau.

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